Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Students, 

This week our students in Years Three and Five will participate in the online NAPLAN testing program. NAPLAN is a series of tests designed to measure year three, five, seven and nine students' progress in literacy and numeracy. The tests, which take between 40 and 65 minutes each, started today and run until Thursday. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), a federal statutory authority that administers the tests and uses the data to provide information to parents and other various stakeholders.

The timetable for the completion of tests at St Anthony’s is as follows:

Tuesday  11 May   Writing 

Wednesday 12 May Reading

Thursday 13 May Conventions of Language (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation)

Tuesday 18 May Numeracy

For each test (excluding the Year Three Writing Test) the format involves completing an online test using an iPad.

There is much debate regarding the relevance  and  validity of using NAPLAN as a relevant form of assessment data to inform student learning and teaching. From both a school and a diocesan perspective, we are able use the data from the tests to inform our strategic directions. Whilst we acknowledge that the actual tests are a ‘point in time’, student results are able to provide one form of data assessment regarding student learning. As a school we are able to use this information, along with many other forms of relevant assessments, to provide a holistic understanding of student learning gains and their areas for growth in both literacy and numeracy. 

At a school level we are able to use key NAPLAN data over various years to gain insights into the key areas that our staff is able to analyse in order to guide quality teacher professional development that will in turn lead to improved teacher practice.

We look forward to engaging with the parent community to provide further insights into how we can use various forms of assessment data, across many platforms, to support quality learning and teaching. 

Take Care

Justin Devlin

Principal